Getting the Attitude that Leads to Success

Nothing can stop the person with
the right mental attitude from achieving his goal. Nothing on earth can help
the person with the wrong mental attitude.

Dr. Alan Zimmerman's Personal
Commentary:

You've heard the old cliché that
says, "Your attitude determines your altitude." Well, it's NOT
a cliché. Research unequivocally confirms that your attitude is one of
the most important ... if not THE most important ... factor in your success.

To give you but one example, look
at the research by Dr. Martin Seligman. He spent years studying the
relationship between positive attitudes and sales success. At the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, he discovered that the agents who scored
in the top half for optimism sold 37% more than those in the more pessimistic
bottom half. More notable still, the agents who scored in the top 10% for
optimism sold 88% more than those who ranked in the most pessimistic 10%.

So the 19th century philanthropist
and statesman, Charles Buxton, was right. He noted, "Sometimes
success is due less to ability than to zeal."

To get you started on the building
and maintaining of a positive attitude, do the following.

1. Make a rational, logical
decision

Having a positive attitude is not
some kind of hype from a rah-rah motivational speaker. Having a positive
attitude is the only sane approach to take.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, the author of
the runaway best-selling book, "The New Psycho-Cybernetics" makes that
perfectly clear. He says, "It is the job of the conscious rational
mind to form logical and correct conclusions. 'I failed once in the past, so I
will probably fail in the future' is neither logical nor rational. To
conclude 'I can't' in advance, without trying, and in the absence of any
evidence is not rational. We should be more like the man who was asked if
he could play the piano. 'I don't know,' he said. 'What do you mean you
don't know?' He said, 'I have never tried.'"

He's right. You really don't
know what you can do and what you can accomplish without first trying. So
it makes a lot more sense to adopt a positive attitude toward life and work
than default into a negative perspective.

Just remember ... your attitude is
YOUR choice. No one gave you a bad attitude, and no can give you a
positive attitude except YOU yourself. YOU get to choose. You can choose
to think, "I can't stand this awful rainy weather," or you can choose
to think, "Just what we need. A nice bit of rain to freshen things
up."

Of course, if you're somewhat
cynical, you might think, "Yeah, that's easy enough to say when you're
talking about simple things like the weather. But it's not possible to
adopt a positive attitude when things are super bad at work or at home."

Oh yes it is. Dr. Viktor Frankl
proved that as a Jewish prisoner in the concentration camps of the Nazi regime.
He said it was a person's attitude that gave them the motivation to
survive in circumstances where most people could see no sign of hope. In
his words, "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are
challenged to change ourselves." In other words, attitude ...
and your power to choose your response ... is everything.

And then, to further build and
bolster your positive attitude...

2. Get in the habit of
winning.

It was one of the secrets of the
great football coach Vince Lombardi and it was one of the secrets of his
legendary winning teams. Lombardi said no matter how "bad" you
are, you need to start with small, simple goals you can achieve every day.
You need to "get in the habit of winning" which creates a
"winning feeling" and a "winning expectation."

Indeed, Lombardi was so convinced
that this was one of the routes to great success that he made an all-out effort
to win even the pre-season games. He knew that the habit of wining would
lead to a positive attitude and all kinds of other successes.

If you're not in the
"habit," try this. Each night before you go to bed, make a
"To Do" list for the following day. Plan out some things you
will do that will ensure some "wins" for the day ... no matter how
big or small. And then the next morning, on the way to work, start
thinking of what you will do, how you will do it, and how successful you will
be. Start creating your self-fulfilling prophecy and reinforcing your
positive attitude.

3. Remain teachable.

If you're quite talented, you may
have some difficulties when it comes to staying positive and teachable.
You may act like you know it all. If so, it will be difficult for
you to keep on growing.

You see ... teachability is not so
much about your competence as it is about your attitude. Do you have a
hunger to discover and grow? If so, you'll be the champion the great
basketball coach John Wooden talked about. He said, "It's what you
learn after you know it all that counts."

Some people attend my
"Journey To The Extraordinary" program kicking and screaming.
They’re "sent" by their employers, friends, or spouses, and
they came less than "voluntarily". But that’s no problem.

Listen to Dave Gummer from the
FBI. Dave writes, "I must admit that I wasn't all that thrilled
about coming to the Journey program. I was encouraged, pushed, or forced
by the powers that be. But boy am I ever happy that I attended. You
came along at exactly the right time and offered some great techniques for
getting through a difficult period in my life, both personally and
professionally. And it’s truly working -- even for my wife, because I shared
with her all the techniques you taught us. A very sincere thank
you."

Even though Dave was initially
skeptical, he remained teachable. What about you? Are you skeptical
when you think about attending my "Journey to the Extraordinary"
program coming to Chicago on November 14-15, 2013? I would hope not.
I would hope you're still very teachable. Click here to get more information on this
program.

Indeed, it was his attitude and
his teachability that contributed to the genius of Leonardo da Vinci. His
notebooks were hundreds of years ahead of their time. He anticipated
submarines, helicopters and other modern inventions. In one notebook he
wrote, "Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity; even so
does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." He was driven by his
positive attitude to know more. He was learning and writing discoveries
in his notebooks until the very end of his life.

And the good news is, you don't
have to have the mind or talent of a Leonardo da Vinci to be teachable.
You just have to have the right attitude.

Finally, to keep on building your
positive attitude...

4. Do it now.

An old Chinese proverb says,
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."

True. But that pesky first
step can be a killer. All too often you may have great intentions ...
you're going to read a certain book ... you're going to write out your
five-year plan ... you're going to start a new business ... you're going to
lose weight ... and you're going to do a thousand other things. But for
some reason, you can't get yourself to take that first step. You're
procrastinating because you don't FEEL like doing it.

Well, forget about your feelings.
In this case, they're irrelevant. If you know it's something you
should be doing, then do it ... whether or not you feel like it. Once you
take that step, the positive feelings will come.

Dr. William James, one of the
founding fathers of modern-day psychology said, "Procrastination is
attitude's natural assassin. There's nothing so fatiguing as an uncompleted
task."

If you procrastinate, you will be
reinforcing your overall negative attitude toward yourself and everything else.
If you just do it, you will be building a powerful positive attitude for
yourself.

Now is the time to pump your
positive attitude. Start with these four steps.

As a best-selling author and Hall of Fame professional
speaker, Dr. Alan Zimmerman is focused on "transforming the people side of
business.” His keynotes and seminars are noted for high content, high energy,
and high involvement that transform people's lives and the companies where they
work.

To learn more about his programs and products, or to
receive a free subscription to his weekly Internet newsletter, click here.

Reprinted with permission from Dr. Alan Zimmerman's
Internet newsletter, the 'Tuesday Tip.' For your own personal, free
subscription to the 'Tuesday Tip' ... along with several other complimentary
gifts, go to http://www.DrZimmerman.com.